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The Tallest Waterfall in the World: Angel Falls

Angel Falls, located in Venezuela, is the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of 979 m (3,212 ft) and a plunge of 807 m (2,648 ft). The waterfall drops over the edge of the Auyantepui mountain in the Canaima National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Canaima), a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Gran Sabana region of Bolivar State. The height figure 979 m (3,212 ft) mostly consists of the main plunge but also includes about 400 m (0.25 mi) of sloped cascades and rapids below the drop and a 30-metre (98 ft) high plunge downstream of the talus rapids.

The base of the falls feeds into the Kerep River (alternatively known as the Rio Gauya), which flows into the Churun River, a tributary of the Carrao River.

Name

The waterfall has been "Angel Falls" for most of the twentieth century, named after Jimmie Angel, a US aviator who was the first to fly over the falls in a plane. The common Spanish name "Salto Angel" derives from his surname. In 2009, President Hugo Chavez announced his intention to change the name to the original indigenous Pemon term ("Kerepakupai Vena", meaning "waterfall of the deepest place"), on the grounds that the nation's most famous landmark should bear an indigenous name. Explaining the name change, Chavez was reported to have said, "This is ours, long before Angel ever arrived there... this is indigenous property." However, he later said that he will not decree the change of name, but only was defending the use of Kerepakupai Vena.

Exploration

Sir Walter Raleigh described what was possibly a tepuy (table top mountain), and he is sometimes said to have been the first European to view the Angel Falls, but these claims are considered far-fetched. Some historians state that the first European to visit the waterfall was Fernando de Berrio, a Spanish explorer and governor from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Later on, they were indeed spotted in 1912 by the Venezuelan explorer Ernesto Sanchez La Cruz, but he did not publicize his discovery. They were not known to the outside world until American aviator Jimmie Angel flew over them on 16 November 1933 on a flight while he was searching for a valuable ore bed.

Returning on 9 October 1937, Angel tried to land his Flamingo monoplane El Rio Caroni; atop Auyan-tepui, but the plane was damaged when the wheels sank into the marshy ground. Angel and his three companions, including his wife Marie, were forced to descend the tepui on foot. It took them 11 days to make their way back to civilization via the gradually sloping back side but news of their adventure spread, and the waterfall was named Angel Falls in his honor.

Angel's plane remained on top of the tepuy for 33 years before being lifted out by helicopter. It was restored at the Aviation Museum in Maracay and now sits outdoors on the front of the airport at Ciudad Bolivar.

The first recorded Westerner to reach the river that feeds the falls was Latvian explorer Aleksandrs Laime, also known as Alejandro Laime to the native Pemon tribe. He made the ascent of Auyan-tepui in 1955, by climbing on the back side where the slope is not vertical. He also reached Angel's plane on the same trip, 18 years after the crash landing. He gave the river feeding the falls the name Gauja after a river in Latvia, but the Pemon-given name of the river, Kerep, is still widely used.

Laime was also the first to clear a trail that leads from the Churun River to the base of the falls. On the way, there is a viewpoint commonly used to capture the falls in photographs. It is named Mirador Laime ("Laime's Viewpoint" in Spanish) in his honor. This trail is used now mostly for tourists, to lead them from the Isla Raton camp to the small clearing.

The official height of the falls was determined by a National Geographic Society survey carried out by American journalist Ruth Robertson in 1949.The first known attempt to climb the face of the cliff was made in 1968 during the wet season. It failed because of slippery rock. In 1969 a second attempt was made during the dry season. This attempt was thwarted by lack of water and an overhang 400 feet from the top. The first climb to the top of the cliff was completed on January 13, 1971. The climbers required nine and a half days to ascend and one and a half days to rappel down.

Tourism

Angel Falls is one of Venezuela's top tourist attractions, though a trip to the falls is a complicated affair. The falls are located in an isolated jungle, and a flight from Puerto Ordaz or Ciudad Bolivar is required to reach Canaima camp, the starting point for river trips to the base of the falls. River trips generally take place from June to December, when the rivers are deep enough for the wooden curiaras used by the Pemon guides. During the dry season (December to March) there is less water seen than in the other months (This can be clearly seen in the photos of the falls above).